Desktop Share *display* problem.

[EdBecerra]

I'm having an intermittent problem I don't quite understand. I'm hoping someone can help with it.

Gbridge connects my computers easily. The Secure Shares work fine.

But when I try to open a remote desktop from my desk machine to my laptop, the window opens, but remains black.

It IS connected - I can move my mouse on my desktop, and see the cursor of the laptop move, I can even open files and run programs. I simply can't see any action in the remote desktop window.

Oddly enough, it does NOT work the other way. I can sit at my laptop, open a remote session, and as soon as it connects, I can see my desktop machine in the window clearly.

Can someone help me through troubleshooting this? It's a minor problem (I'm more interested in being able to do a remote session FROM my laptop TO my desktop than the other way around), but it's annoying and I'd like to know what's going wrong here.

Sincerely,

Ed Becerra

[admin]

What is your Gbridge version? (latest is 1.0.0.1194)
What is your windows version?

[EdBecerra]

What is your Gbridge version? (latest is 1.0.0.1194)
What is your windows version?

I am using the latest Gbridge on both machines.

My laptop has XP Home, SP3.
My desktop has XP Pro, SP3.

I am currently disabling resident programs one by one to see if it's software interference. Given that my desktop and laptop use different security programs, I am suspicious that may be part of the problem.

My desktop uses Trend Micro Security Suite, while my laptop uses Zone Alarm products.

Qurestion - is there any known interference between Gbridge and Zone Alarm Force Field?

Ed Becerra

[admin]

Oddly enough, it does NOT work the other way. I can sit at my laptop, open a remote session, and as soon as it connects, I can see my desktop machine in the window clearly.


You mean it does work the other way, right?

It is quite strange. If you cannot remote control the laptop at all, I will suspect it is a firewall issue. But the issue is you can control it , but not see it remotely. Does it happen all the time? Can you reboot your laptop and try again?

[EdBecerra]

You mean it does work the other way, right?

It is quite strange. If you cannot remote control the laptop at all, I will suspect it is a firewall issue. But the issue is you can control it , but not see it remotely. Does it happen all the time? Can you reboot your laptop and try again?

After booting my laptop, disabling EVERY program I had installed, then restarting them one at a time, I was able to discover the culprit, though I do not understand *why*.

The symptoms I described above only occur when I have ZoneAlarm's "ForceField" program running and enabled. When I exit ForceField, Gbridge functions properly.

If I begin a remote desktop session and *then* enable ForceField, screen updates to the remote desktop session window then stop.

I am still in contact with the laptop, moving the cursor around inside the window still moves the cursor on the laptop, still opens files and icons. But the window displaying the laptop's screen no longer updates. It does *not* freeze, it simply no longer refreshes, if that's the proper term.

The laptop has no problems. It doesn't crash, doesn't freeze, continues to function normally. The desktop has no problems, either. It's merely the remote session window refreshing itself that ceases.

Repeated attempts at experimenting with this have produced the same result - it's clearly ZoneAlarm's ForceField that's interfering. How and why, I simply don't understand.

Any thoughts on this matter?

(As I said, it's not a major issue, but I find it confusing, and seek to understand the *why* of the problem, and if there's a workaround that doesn't involve shutting down ForceField.)

Sincerely,

Ed Becerra

POSTSCRIPT:

Forgive me for not being entirely clear. When ZA's ForceField is enabled on the *laptop* is when the problem with the window refreshing occurs. I'd already made this post when I realized I hadn't emphasized which machine it was running on.

[admin]

Thank a lot for reporting this! Google search also shows some incompatibility report on ForceField and Ultravnc, which Gbridge DesktopShare is based on.

My understand is that Forcefield may has some features to prevent keylog/remotecontrol that may interfere with Ultravnc.

[EdBecerra]

Thank a lot for reporting this! Google search also shows some incompatibility report on ForceField and Ultravnc, which Gbridge DesktopShare is based on.

My understand is that Forcefield may has some features to prevent keylog/remotecontrol that may interfere with Ultravnc.

Ah. No problem then. For now, I'll simply deactivate Forcefield when I need to remote from my desk machine to my laptop. (Usually, it's the other way around, going from my laptop to my desktop. Laptops, after all, are usually the mobile half of that equation.)

Deactivate my Forcefield... I sound like a redshirt in a Star Trek episode. :rolleyes:

Thank you for the help, and hopefully, someone will come up with a workaround.

Here's to making Gbridge the best it can be!

Ed Becerra

[EdBecerra]

Okay, I've found that with Forcefield, there's an option under advanced settings to "block programs that secretly record your keystrokes" with two sub-options, "always" and "only in allegedly secure sessions (https)".

I've found that un-ticking the option entirely allows Gbridge and Forcefield to work together.

I'm still testing to see if the second sub-option will still allow Gbridge to work. If not, at least it's not necessary to shut down Forcefield entirely.

I hope this helps anyone who uses both Gbridge and Forcefield.

Ed Becerra